1887

President - Frank Grey Smith
Vice Presidents - Henry Harrison, James Byrne, Charles Forrester, G. Aitken
Treasurer - Arthur Hunt
Secretary - James Morris
Selection Committee - JJ Kelly, W. Burns, H. Tuckfield, GS Murdoch, J Farquhar, A Hunt, F Franks
Committee - HH Morrison, S Baird, J Farquhar, GS Murdoch, H Griffith
Secretary of Seconds - W Lynar
Captain - James Kelly

For the first time teams were awarded four points for a win and two for a draw. Umpires bounced the ball to start each quarter instead of throwing it in the air, except at the start of the game when a kick-off was still used. Timekeepers were employed to ring the bell at the end of each quarter.

Alterations to the VFA's procedures included the season being mandated as commencing on 1 May and ending 30 September, and that weekday matches other than those for the Queen's Birthday would ont be recognised. Games were set as 50 minutes per half in June/July, and 60 minutes in other months of the season.

The Intercolonial Football Conference passed rules stating that goals should be indicated by two flags and behinds by one flag and that goal umpires should be the sole judge of the legality of goals. The phrase 'free kick' was temporarily removed from the rules, with the words 'kick' and 'mark' replacing it.

The club's Annual General Meeting was held on March 29 at the Victoria Coffee Palace. Henry Harrison chaired in the absence of President Frank Grey Smith. The club took a trip to Tasmania during August, and after a 'lively' dinner at the end of the series the Tasmanian association wrote to the VFA informing them that they would not put on any more dinners for touring teams in the future.

Matches scheduled for Saturday 2 July were cancelled due to heavy grounds caused by rain. A game scheduled against Port Melbourne the previous Saturday had already been cancelled due to the Friendly Societies' Ground being wet and swampy from heavy rain.

In September J. Morris resigned as a delegate to the VFA and was replaced by C. Jenvey.

The first 20 won 10, lost 13 and drew three. 103 goals were scored and 109 conceded. Receipts were 368p, 10s, 11d and an expenditure of 432p 13s 2d.

VFA Matches

Date	Opponent	Result
7 May	University	WIN
14 May	Hotham	LOSS
21 May	Williamstown	LOSS
24 May	Ballarat	WIN
28 May	South Williamstown	WIN
4 June	Geelong	LOSS
11 June	Fitzroy	DRAW
18 June	Essendon	LOSS
21 June	Carlton	LOSS
9 July	South Melbourne	DRAW
16 July	Fitzroy	LOSS
23 July	Carlton	LOSS
30 July	Essendon	WIN
6 August	South Melbourne	LOSS
27 August	St Kilda	WIN
3 September	Carlton	LOSS
10 September	Hotham	LOSS
17 September	Geelong	LOSS
24 September	Footscray	WIN

Other Matches

Date	Opponent	Result
23 April	Clifton	WIN
30 April	Combined Schools	WIN
1 June	Tasmania	WIN
10 August	Hobart	LOSS
13 August	Southern Tasmania	LOSS
17 August	Railway	DRAW
20 August	Tasmania	WIN

Players

George Aitken, WR Bailey, S. Baird, J. Brooks, R. Brown, T. Burke, A. Burkin, W. Burns, A. Carnegie. T. Dodds, A. Edwards, Eggleston, F. Everitt, Bob Ewing, Eddie Fox, F. Franks, W. Franks, Froude, J. Garton, Ed Griffith, George Hallett, N. Harper, J. Johnson, James Kelly, A. King, Howard King, E. Lynar, A. McCrindle, M. McDonnell, M. McKenzie, P. Millard, M. Morris, Howard Morrison, P. Murphy, Fred Plant, Dick Robinson, H. Smith, C. Spooner, Stewart, Billy Stiffe, G. Strachan, Strong, T. Thompson, H. Tuckfield, J. Wiseman

Goalkickers

W. Burns 13, T. Dodds 12, A. McCrindle 5, Ed Griffith 4, M. McDonnell 4, J. Wiseman 3, S. Baird 2, R. Brown 2, A. Carnegie 2, Bob Ewing 2, P. Millard 2, Morris 2, G. Strachan 2, WR Bailey 1, F. Everitt 1, Franks 1, J. Garton 1, James Kelly 1, E. Lynar 1, P. Murphy 1, Dick Robinson 1, T. Thompson 1

Ladder

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A
1	Carlton	25	20	3	2	136	73
2	Geelong	23	18	3	2	123	63
3	South Melbourne	20	12	4	4	103	54
4	Fitzroy	22	12	5	5	78	61
5	Port Melbourne	22	14	2	6	107	55
6	Williamstown	20	9	3	8	67	76
7	Richmond	20	8	4	8	66	73
8	Hotham	21	7	4	10	84	92
9	Essendon	19	7	3	9	62	71
10	Melbourne	20	7	2	11	69	87
11	Prahran	18	5	2	11	69	75
12	St Kilda	19	4	1	14	56	106
13	University	19	4	0	15	45	113
14	South Williamstown	18	3	2	13	35	78
15	Footscray	14	2	2	10	25	47
16	Ballarat	15	6	2	7	66	48
17	South Ballarat	12	4	5	3	55	45
18	Ballarat Imperials	14	6	3	5	53	51

Second 20

Date	Opponent	Result	Score	Goalkickers
7 May	Richmond	UNKNOWN	?
14 May	Hotham	UNKNOWN	?
24 May	Morwell	WIN	4-1
28 May	St Kilda	WIN	7.13 - 0.3
4 June	Geelong	UNKNOWN	?
11 June	Fitzroy	DRAW	2.6 - 2.12
18 June	Essendon	WIN	3.8 - 1.3
25 June	Port Melbourne	DRAW	3.7 - 3.3	Match abandoned when the ball burst
9 July	South Melbourne	UNKNOWN	?
16 July	Fitzroy	LOSS	0.6 - 1.5
23 July	Carlton	UNKNOWN	?
6 August	South Melbourne	UNKNOWN	?
20 August	Essendon	LOSS	2.5 - 3.9
3 September	Carlton	UNKNOWN	?
10 September	Hotham	UNKNOWN	?
17 September	Geelong	UNKNOWN	?

Media
"Proposed alterations of the rules" - The Australasian 06/11/1886
The Argus - 01/04/1887
The Australasian - 02/04/1887
Sydney Mail 07/05/1887
"Postponement of today's matches" - The Australasian 02/07/1887
"Melbourne vs Port Melbourne" - The Australasian 02/07/1887
Otago Witness - 08/07/1887
Sydney Mail - 13/08/1887
The Argus - 10/09/1887
Sydney Mail - 15/10/1887
The Australasian - 14/04/1888
The Age - 16/04/1888
Origins of Australian Football volume 3 by Mark Pennings

Links
Footystats Chronology
footytimeline.com 1887
Blueseum 1887 page
VFA Tables